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Rahul was misled, Sidhu was the right choice for CM face: Dr Kaur
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Sunday declared Channi as the party’s chief ministerial face for the high-stake Punjab assembly polls, a recognition that was also coveted by Sidhu
AMRITSAR: Two days after the Congress declared Charanjit Singh Channi as the CM face for the February 20 Punjab assembly polls, state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife and former MLA Dr Navjot Kaur on Tuesday said her husband was the right choice for the post.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Sunday declared Channi as the party’s chief ministerial face for the high-stake Punjab assembly polls, a recognition that was also coveted by Sidhu. Before declaring Channi’s name, Rahul had said: “People of Punjab said we need a chief minister who is from a ‘gareeb ghar’ (humble family), who understands poverty and hunger. It was a tough decision, you (people) made it easy.”
Tearing into Channi’s humble background image, Dr Kaur said Rahul Gandhi was “misled” to consider him as poor. “He is richer than us. See his house, capital and returns. But money should not be a criterion for putting a person at such a high position. “I think your particulars, your merit, your education, your work, your honesty should be counted. Merit has to be counted, otherwise, the state will never prosper,” she said.
Sidhu and his wife were campaigning in Amritsar East constituency where the state Congress chief is pitted against Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia and AAP’s Jeevanjot Kaur.
When asked if Sidhu would have been a better choice, she replied, “Yes, irrespective of him being my husband. I would have never said so if he was not capable. His Punjab model is so good that within six months, the state would have been out of various problems.” Asked if she thinks Rahul Gandhi was misled somewhere, Kaur quipped, “Yes”.
After her hard-hitting statement went viral, Dr Sidhu clarified in the evening that she was not unhappy with the Congress decision. “If anyone implements the Punjab model and does what the people want from after becoming the CM, I will have no objection to it,” she added.
Satisfied with high command decision: Sidhu
Meanwhile, Sidhu said: “We are satisfied over the Congress high command decision. We are not obliging anyone. We are fighting ‘dharam yudh’ or I would say ‘yudh’ of ‘rashtra dharam’. We are fighting to clear debt of this soul. We are fighting with the feeling which created Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. Ishaq does not demand anything in exchange.”
When asked about the narrative of terming Channi ‘gareeb’, he said: “We will not comment on this. Channi is my younger brother and he knows how to reply to these questions.”
“As a Congress’ foot soldier, I will abide by the directions of the party high command,” he said.
Commenting on his family income, Sidhu said: “Once, I used to earn ₹20 to ₹30 crore annually from TV shows, motivational talks, commentary etc. But today, I earn only ₹60,000-70,000. We purchased showrooms in 1995 and get some rent, not consistently.”
